What Drives You

The alarm goes off. It’s 4am. Time to get up, have a snack, some coffee and get to the gym. You’ve been working towards this goal for a few months now and it’s been getting harder and harder to drag yourself out of bed and get in some quality training, but you manage. People comment on how “motivated” you are and are impressed by your routine. They may even call you driven. I believe, at some point or another, in everyone’s lives, we will experience some form of this situation. Be it for the physical aspirations, education, or financial, we all face a period of time when we are motivated to “show up” day after week after month and maybe even after year, in the name of some intangible goal. The goal, however, isn’t the root of the motivation. It’s the fruit. It’s what we “get” at the end of all our work. What drives us is something deeper and far harder to put our finger on than a number on the board.

As a coach, goal orienteering is a major part of what I do. Often asked first as an ice breaker and then, later, to spark a real conversation of the direction of our interaction. Having goals is important as it gives you and me and us a target to aim at. What gets you towards you goal and out of bed, however, can and should be much different. These deeper motivations behind the goals are the real driving force that quiet the 4am alarm and put us upright when everything else primal in our body tells us to sleep. While we all have varying amounts of each of them, we can put them into three categories.

Social drive is the most amorphous and likely the most deeply engrained in our instinct. We are social creatures and we all strive to be a part of something. Some people continue to race or lift purely because that is where their friends are. It is all they have known and this activity or drive is deeply entwined with their social life. Thus they continue on, because they belong. While this likely isn’t the thing that gets someone out the door in the first place, it may well be the most sustainable driver to continue to participate in any activity. From careers to recreational athletics, all can and should have some social component that, when fostered over time, keeps you in the game. 

Performance improvement, unlike social drive, is very tangible. I want to weigh “X”, I want to lift “X”, I want to finish the race in “X” time. These are often the first things that come out of peoples mouths when you ask them what their goals are. They feel safe because you can see them as they are defined in numbers. The difference between you and these tangible goals is improvement, which in the right individuals, will be a bigger motivator than the numbers themselves. These are people who are driven to see the change, not the destination. The are fired up by that 5lb deadlift PR or that 2% drop in body fat. It doesn’t matter if the deadlift went  from 100 to 105 or 810 to 815. What matters is that it changed. It improved. It is the improvement part that drives people, and often they are never satisfied with their lot, as they are hooked on wanting more, not on having more. This can be a powerful motivator, but in a vacuum and with enough time, it isn’t sustainable. We all will taper off and the gains will slow. That’s just the nature of things. So while this motivator can be potent, do not rely solely on it to drive you.

Lastly we consider the podium. The ultimate goal, to cross the finish line first, or win best lifter. This motivator, by nature, requires competition and recognition. You must win but also be recognized for the win. In many ways it is a combination of the two former motivators. It’s social recognition stacked on top of peak performance. This motivator is only accessible to the elite and the deluded. The idea of being the best in the eyes of your peers can be very powerful. The social clout of winning, even at a local event, can be like jet fuel. While this motivator seldom delivers, when it does, when someone feels like they can reach out and grab that podium finish, it makes them hungrier than ever. They are selfish. They are the combination of ego and performance all in the name of social approval. I’m not trying to demonize or downplay this type of motivation. I am simply warning you that it’s true experience, it's not as easily accessible as the others. We can always learn to enjoy our time with our peers. With smart training, we can always find a way to “be better” than we were before. Finishing top in your event however, by nature has limited access. Nonetheless, many an athlete sets out on the path of victory, and if they fall short, there’s always the next one.

In reality, we are all a blend of these motivators at different times in our activities at different points in our lives. That is ok, and encouraged, as not one of them, alone, may be enough for us to keep our head down and keep plugging away. So consider, next time you set your sights on a goal, be it a race, meet, or body composition change, what drives you?